18/09/2026
We have signed the following letter to the Prime Minister that will be sent on behalf of the charities connected with NCVO: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/ #/
To Prime Minister Andy Burnham: Protect our charities
Charities are under attack.
Service users, volunteers and staff from a wide range of charities have faced death threats, assaults, their addresses being leaked and their families being threatened. All because we still believe in kindness, fairness and supporting one another in times of need.
Your Government must act. As charities of all kinds, from across the UK, we are uniting to say: our people deserve to feel safe. It doesn’t matter where we come from, or what kind of work we do, no one should be put in danger for trying to help others.
The recent attacks on a charity simply discharging its mission to ‘save lives at sea’ from far-right linked actors are utterly shocking. But sadly, this was not an isolated incident. Charities of all kinds have endured threats, intimidation and harassment, all for daring to provide their services to the people who need them. Charities that work with women & girls escaping violence and abuse, with LGBT people, disabled people, and those working in and around migration & racial justice, broader human rights and even funders have all been targeted.
Those of us who have not faced threats stand in solidarity with our colleagues across the charitable sector. We know that if charities and volunteers active in all sectors are not protected from intimidation and threats, the impact on the entire charitable sector and the vital work we do could be profound.
This must be stopped. You have rightly condemned the recent abuse directed at volunteer rescue workers, but you must go further, and send a clear message that attacks against any charities are unacceptable, no matter who is using these services. We urge you to address the environment of fear and hatred that has been allowed to evolve, and ensure those who fuel it with misinformation and discriminatory language, whether politicians or media commentators, are held to account.
Your Government must urgently explore how to better protect all charities and charitable work from such attacks. It must further address the role of social media in spreading threats, to ensure those spreading false information, or participating in the targeting of our work and the people delivering it are accountable for the violence they drive. And it must ensure that masked vigilantes abusing, threatening and assaulting people in our country are no longer referred to as ‘protestors’, a term that conveys legitimacy they do not deserve.
No matter what populations we serve, as charities, we are united in a desire to improve lives, for people of all backgrounds, all across the UK. We do not, and will never, discriminate against the people who need our support on the basis of where they have come from, their gender identity, their race, where they live or their faith or belief system.
Attacking us for that undermines the very fabric of our society and of who we are as a country.
Let's champion the remarkable role of charities and volunteers
